E3 2022 will not have an official event in person or online.
There won't be an E2022 in 3. The cancellation makes 2022 the second year E3 hasn't happened in more than two and a half years. The other E3-free year was 19, when the event was canceled due to lockdowns at the start of the Covid-2020 pandemic.
The Entertainment Software Association's annual trade event began in 1995, and despite fluctuations in importance over the years (2007 was dreadful), it has consistently been recognized as the gaming industry's flagship event. There was an E3 last year, but it was held online rather than in person at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There will be no physical or online E3 this year. According to the ESA, while this isn't the end of E3 in general, it's been canceled entirely.
The question this year will now be how much we will notice E3's absence. These days, in the minds of gamers and industry alike, E3 has become a conglomerate of many events and gatherings that take place every June on Twitch, YouTube, and around the LA Convention Center, all of which are not officially associated.
The flashy E3 press conferences from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and major game publishers have been officially considered E3 events in the past, but in recent years some of these companies have chosen to do their own thing. Sony, for example, skipped E3 2021, and in recent years EA has hosted EA Play Live during E3 week, but not as part of E3.
In addition to producing and hosting the annual Game Awards, Geoff Keighley has also become a huge presence during E3 week with the Summer Game Festival. He tweeted a winking emoji following the cancellation news of E3 2022. Later, he officially announced the return of Summer Game Fest.
Last year there were a number of other E3 adjoining streams that could return this June alongside larger conferences. Letters and numbers may be the only things missing at this year's E3 compared to last year, as a convention center floor isn't expected to launch. We expect a lot of events to take place that week of June, before and after.
